To detect Covid-19, people usually have to undergo an extremely crucial but also extremely uncomfortable and painful test at the same time and that would be the swab test. Many people have testified that this swab test certainly is not pleasant to be experienced but it is actually the most efficient way for anyone that wanted to get tested for Covid-19.
Worry no more because fortunately, with the advanced technology that we have nowadays, many people might be able to get tested for Covid-19 just by using respiratory tests instead of the painful swab test. This is because a group of researchers in Singapore have been developing a brand new kind of test that is able to detect the dangerous and deathly Covid-19 virus by just using an individual’s breath and the whole process would only take less than a minute.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) has mentioned that the test would detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) presents in the breath and this test also has achieved more than 90 percent accuracy in the results the entire time of its clinical trials. This test has been carefully conducted on a total of 180 patients.
For the procedure, all the patient needs to do is just exhale into a disposable mouthpiece that is connected to a very high-precision tester. The patient’s exhaled breath then collected and fed into a mass spectrometer for measurement. This machine-learning software analyses the VOC profile and also generates the result in less than one minute.
This machine is named Breathonix and it is developed by NUS. It was claimed to offer a very fast and also convenient solution to identify Covid-19 infection for patients. The CEO, Dr. Jia Zhunan said that VOCs are consistently produced by various biochemical reactions in human cells. He also added, “Different diseases cause specific changes to the compounds, resulting in detectable changes in a person’s breath profile. As such, VOCs can be measured as markers for diseases like Covid-19”.
The Breathonix’s chief operating officer Mr. Du Fang said, that the disposable mouthpiece has a one-way valve and a saliva trap that stops inhalation and any saliva from entering the machine, making cross-contamination unlikely.
Sources: The Straits Times.